Soccer Blog

MLS Week 4 Power Rankings

It took a few weeks, but now we are starting to see some results-based separation across the league. Evaluating how each team has improved in the offseason in MLS is very challenging as you don’t know which international additions still have something left in the tank and will take the league seriously, or which young player will make the jump to the next level or not. And in a league with a tight salary cap like MLS, that makes the margin of error very small.

In addition to the actual numerical order, I’ve divided the league into five groups: Class, Quality, Solid, Improvement Needed and Truly Struggling. Traditionally, you usually only have one to three teams in that first group, 4 to 6 (most of the solid playoff teams) in the second, another 4 to 6 in the middle group, then 2 or 3 in the fourth and fifth groups.

CLASS OF THE LEAGUE

1 (1) Real Salt Lake – After two road games and one home match, against some pretty salty clubs, RSL stands on 5 points and as last year’s league runner up, they have shown they are still in the top echelon of MLS. A massive game against this year’s darlings, TFC, looms over the weekend.

2 (2) Toronto FC – While many (including this author) worried for DC United’s safety, it turned out that while TFC still got the win, the blood bath of goals didn’t materialize. Then again, three points is three points and a lot of the big components of this new-look Toronto side continue to show their quality.

3 (3) Houston Dynamo – The Dynamo were off last week. It will be interesting to see what they tried to work on during their bye as they had two solid home wins to start the year and they didn’t show a lot of vulnerability. They take their first road test, this time to Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps.

4 (4) Seattle Sounders – Another big road win in this early MLS season, this time by a club we expected big things, but without US legend, Clint Dempsey who is serving a two game suspension. Traveling all the way across North America and getting a win is simply impressive, and their early results on the year show only the blemish against TFC. There is a lot to like about this year’s version of Seattle. Now they get to take on a Columbus side that has shown real promise in this early campaign.

QUALITY SIDES

5 (5) Los Angeles Galaxy – This is the first team we get to with some vulnerability to it. In some ways, coming up a little short against the Royals is nothing to be embarrassed about, but the Galaxy are used to being in the tier above, not the one looking like the silver or bronze medalist. And with that defense, they do look weak at times. A week off may give them the time to tighten up that back line.

6 (11)​ Columbus Crew – And now we know that the result in DC was not a one-off – the Crew are legit. It is still early to tell, but the range for this club could be very high. It was a home win for Berhalter’s boys against an improved Philadelphia group, albeit after a week off. There is a lot of quality on this team – definitely a team to watch going forward. This weekend, though, they travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Sounders and it should be interesting to see how they handle the crowd and opponent, both of which are salty to say the least.

7 (10) FC Dallas – While the top record in the West has a lot of FCD fans giddy with excitement, there still remains questions about this club. Injuries again rear their ugly head, and the late, questionable tackle from Thomas put Pareja’s men in a tight spot with what has got to be a frustrated and getting close to desperate Timbers group coming into town for Saturday’s clash. Diaz is the real deal at home, and we saw both wings blossom against a solid Chivas USA side last Saturday. The defense was better than in the Montreal match, the goalkeeping was well above adequate, and the fact that the team had basically four sets of central midfield groupings yet controlled the vast majority of the match is very telling. There is some vulnerability to sliding down here – especially if they take Portland lightly – but this feels like a team on the rise and soon we may be wondering how high they might go.

8 (8) Sporting Kansas City – That is the side we saw consistently over the last few years, and the one that will always be difficult to get points off of. Frankly, this author was impressed with both sides in the SKC-SJ match, but the better team won. You have to wonder if Zusi had played against FCD, would that game have ended evens? Like FCD and Columbus, there is serious potential here.

SOLID MLS CLUBS

9 (7) Vancouver Whitecaps – It is a little tough to tell where this club will settle out. Right now we have them here because in this group, they own the signature win in the 4-1 smack of the Red Bulls from the first slate of games. A road tie against an improved Chivas USA side, even at 10 men for much of the game, followed by a tie against a struggling New England group are mixed results, but ties aren’t losses, and road ties are successful trips, so they are topping this group. Hosting Houston this weekend will give us a pretty good sense of whether this is too high, or if the Dynamo are just better – depending on the level of result, although their game against New York showed the promise that there might be talent enough to take things the other way and get a win against the orange lads.

10 (9) San Jose EarthQuakes – While San Jose lost over the weekend, they did it on the road against a rejuvenated SKC side, and made them earn the win. Fantastic goalkeeping, for starters, and the scrap is back for the EarthQuakes. We feel comfortable that this team is at least back to being the pests that few can out-last in terms of determination and grit. Hosting cross-country-traveling New England on the weekend should give San Jose a chance to get 3 points and show some consistent success.

11 (6) Philadelphia Union – The Union are certainly improved on their 2013 form, the game in Ohio showed that there is still work to be done. A long road trip tie in Portland keeps them ahead of Chivas for now, but we wouldn’t be offended by people arguing that the California team should be in this slot.

12 (13) Chivas USA – Not the happiest of reunions for Wilmer Cabrera. Clearly, work remains for this side although how much of that game in Frisco relates to missing their starting defensive midfielder? The result against Vancouver the week before is still valiant and even when down 2-0 against Dallas, Chvias USA showed us something by pulling a goal back before giving up a third for the final deficit. Now they get to travel to New York and we will see if their magic can continue, or if that is a coming back to earth game for Chivas USA and a coming back to life match for the Red Bulls.

13 (15) Colorado Rapids – While Portland are not looking like their 2013 selves, a 2-0 win for the Rapids puts Colorado on the trail to challenge for a playoff spot and puts the Timbers even farther behind in their quest to get back in to those same playoffs. An unconvincing tie in New York, combined with a general sense of loss of quality in the locker room left us wondering what the Rapids were going to be in 2014, but the 2-0 victory indicates this may be lower than where this club will end up. On the other hand, hosting a Kansas City side that seems to be back in form will probably give us the best sense of how serious Colorado is going to be in 2014.

IMPROVEMENT NEEDED

14 (14) New York Red Bulls – Getting a tie in Chicago isn’t going to move you much. The talent on the roster is impressive and resulted in a Supporters Shield last year, but how much of that was playing in the East and/or an above-average camaraderie, and how much of that remains to play out in 2014? If they can get a result against Chivas USA on Sunday, maybe there might be the beginnings of a turn-around for the Red Bulls.

15 (16) Chicago Fire – The tie against Portland in Oregon is what keeps the Fire ahead of the Timbers this week – just like the tie at home against the Red Bulls this past weekend puts New York ahead of Chicago. Like some other teams, there is talent on the roster. The question is whether they can play as a unit – and whether Mcgee has enough talent to separate himself when he is the main focus of the defense.

16 (12) Portland Timbers – “Fear leads to hate. Hate leads to anger. Anger leads to suffering.” Well, maybe it isn’t that bad for Caleb’s boys just yet, but this can’t be the way they pictured starting off 2014 – certainly not after making the conference championship last campaign. And now they travel to play a Dallas team that has on more than one occasion really embarrassed the Oregon boys. Porter will have to find a way to keep the lads’ heads up to have success against a revitalized team under Oscar Pareja.

17 (17) New England Revolution – A tie agaist traveling Vancouver wasn’t what Heaps wanted, but the return of Goncalves had to give him some hope, and once the back six settle in, you have to think the offense will start to come out of its shell after that. Right? And the return of Goncalves is the reason New England is here and not in the lower group, although a game across the country against San Jose probably isn’t the elixir Coach Jay was looking for.

TRULY STRUGGLING

18 (18) Montreal Impact – No Dempsey, travel across the continent, for a team that had just been embarrassed on home soil by TORONTO of all teams – the excuses were all laid out for the visitors that Montreal hosted over the weekend. No joy for the Impact, though, as Seattle took the three points. Players need to return, but also a number of other things also have to happen before the Montreal Impact can even think about being a playoff team again.

19 (19) DC United – Maybe a slight ray of hope from the game in Toronto this past weekend as DC controlled portions of the game against a very impressive TFC group. Hosting the Fire this weekend should give United a chance to show if they really are better than their first week result against the Crew.

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This blog is a partnership with SportsDay and 3rd Degree, a local soccer blog that has been covering soccer for the D-FW area since 1997. Coverage provided by Steve Hunt, Peter Welpton and Buzz Carrick

Every weekend the show covers the sport of soccer with a Dallas area P1's perspective. From the global game to youth fields that litter the DFW area, Andy & Peter simply talk about soccer and all that implies. You can follow the show on Twitter at @TheKickAround, or send them an email at kickaroundradio@gmail.com